Coordination and collaboration helps right wing parties take and keep power
When Stephen Harper’s time as Prime Minister ended in 2015 with his party’s defeat, he didn’t stay in government long. By August of 2016, Harper had resigned his seat as a Calgary MP and started getting down to other business.
Harper’s infamous dedication to the long game was outlined in Paul Well’s biography of the PM, The Longer I’m Prime Minister. In a review for The Narwhal by Russel Blinch, the author wrote: “The very title of the book, The Longer I’m Prime Minister, refers to his plan to shift Canada to the right through small steps achieved over time and under the radar.” In a post-convoy, increasingly authoritarian Canada, it’s hard to argue with the success of Harper’s incrementalist approach. Wrote Blinch, “He wants to ‘re-legitimise’ the right and obliterate all traces of so-called leftish thinking.”
By 2018, Harper was confident enough that his long-term plans for Canada, and his consulting business, were in safe, loyal hands, leaving free to pursue bigger and better. In February of 2018, Harper was elected Chairman of the International Democratic Union (or IDU), succeeding John Key, former PM of New Zealand.
The official origin story has IDU formed in 1983, with founding members including Margaret Thatcher, George Bush Sr., and Jacques Chirac. The goal was “one strong voice” to promote “democracy and centre-right policies around the globe.” The founding declaration was signed by 19 parties. (more...)
IDU: Harper's Worldwide Winning Network
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